Steve Chiappetti

12.05.06

Steve Chiappetti made his bones at Mango, Grapes, and Rhapsody. He was really one of Chicago’s first celebrity chefs. In 2000, he closed all of his restaurants and took some time off to raise his kids, pursue photography, work on a book, and start a bakery with his wife. He returned in 2003 with Café Le Coq in Oak Park, where his sweetbreads in a vanilla and Moroccan BBQ sauce were one of my favorite dishes in 2003. Now, Chiappetti’s breathing new life into Viand (155 E. Ontario St.; 312-255-8505), an American bistro that he’s patterning after Mango. In this podcast we touch on life before and after the break, what it’s like to cook for movie stars and their dogs, and the famous Chicago based family business, Chiappetti Veal and Lamb.